(The Center Square) – South Carolina’s seasonally adjusted July unemployment rate increased to 3.9%, up from 3.6% in June and a revised rate of 2.8% in July 2023.
State officials say the state has “record-breaking numbers” for people in jobs. Additionally, they pointed out the rate remains lower than the national norm of 4.3%.
“For the fifth consecutive month, South Carolina continues setting record-breaking numbers as more people are working than ever before,” Department of Employment and Workforce Executive Director William Floyd said in a statement.
As of July, the seasonally adjusted number of South Carolinians workers surpassed 2.4 million, an increase of 4,983 from June and 27,249 from July 2023. The labor force also increased to more than 2.5 million, up 13,044 from June and 55,481 from July 2023.
State officials said the number of payroll jobs employers reported increased slightly to nearly 2.4 million.
While the state’s labor force participation rate hit 57.5% in July, up slightly from 57.3% in June, it lags the national labor force participation rate, which stood at 62.7% in July. Georgia is 61.8% and North Carolina 60.7%.
“These record-setting numbers are on trend with national numbers which have seen an increase in both employment and unemployment in recent months,” Floyd said. “…Even with the expansion of the number of people employed in South Carolina, there are thousands of job openings available.”